


The Mythology of Us

by sandywritesfics



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, POV First Person, Rumors, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-28 23:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30146991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandywritesfics/pseuds/sandywritesfics
Summary: Renjun who is both a vampire and a Kpop idol. You, a normal human girl. In a world were vampires stalk the night for food and werewolves stay hidden amongst the crowds a rumor could blow the whole thing down.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Huang Ren Jun/Reader, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

It was the end of my shift at the bakery. I put up my apron in the locker and pulled on my denim jacket and grabbed my small backpack. I greeted the next shift and bowed my farewell to the owner on my way out the door. Standing next to my childhood friend, we decided to grab a drink at a nearby cafe. We chatted for a while, catching up on whatever we couldn't fit into our work shift. With our cups empty, we parted ways. I made my way back to the bakery to retrieve my bike so I could ride it home. I put in my earbuds and hopped onto my bike and rode it on the shoulder of the road. Calmly humming to the songs as they played with the wind gently brushing past my face and through my hair.

I make it to the apartment and input the password to open the main door. In the main lobby exists a bike rack where I lock in my bike. I decide to take the stairs to my apartment floor. As I made my way to the door, I scavenged the keys out of my backpack. With the click of the lock, the metal door opened to a cozy sized room. I walked in, closing the door behind me, making my way to the couch, and tossed my bag onto the couch before falling face-first onto the cushions.

Home at last.

I rolled onto my back and sat up to turn the television on and flipped through the channels landing on a weather channel that indicated that it would rain into the night. I got up to grab any clothes that were drying outside to bring them in. I folded them while sitting on the couch listening to the news about victims being found in alleyways drained of their blood. I blocked the rest out concentrating on folding the clothes then returning them to their proper places. Since I was already being productive I started on miscellaneous chores and housework, singing and dancing around as I did. By the time I finished the sun was starting to set and disappear behind the earth. I ordered some pizza which arrived pretty quickly and I indulged in 4 slices putting the rest in the refrigerator for tomorrow.

With the hours growing later a shower was in order to relax from my day of work. The water ran until it was steaming out of the faucet. I bathed in the steaming hot water and left feeling refreshed. I threw on a pair of underwear and a comfy bra and scrounged through the drawers to find a slightly oversized shirt. With that, I was ready for bed.

I laid in bed under the covers letting my mind wander to hopefully find the sleep I was looking for. There was a scratching at the window amidst the pattering of the rain against the side of the apartment. Confused, I walked to the window to check what the scratching was. I stood at the window leaving the curtains to see if a shadow could be seen without letting on that I was investigating the scene. Finally, through much hesitation, I drew the curtains slowly to see what was on the other side. With the curtains pulled away from the window, nothing was to be seen in the dark raining outside. I looked down to the floors below to find nothing out of the ordinary. Still confused by the scratching that was at the window, I turned around to be startled by the figure that stood behind me.

"Did I scare you?" a grin grew across his face seemingly pleased with his feat.

"I thought you were at the window because you forgot your key or something." I pushed him aside, "I was just trying to get some sleep you know, but then you scratched at the window and it was raining so I thought maybe you needed to get in but no, it was just a prank." I got under the covers and covered myself.

"Trying to sleep, like always. I know you can't sleep well without me. Your mind is too active and easily distracted." He came to the edge of the bed where I was hiding away. "I know you're not mad about the prank." He pulled down the covers to reveal my face trying not to break its angered form.

"I'm very mad." I pouted to hopefully hide my amusement.

He placed his hand on my chin to bring it up to his face, "You seem more amused than angry."

I finally let out a smile, pulling my face out of his grasp and patting the empty area in the bed next to me. "You saw me in only your shirt and my underwear, maybe I'm actually embarrassed."

He crawled into the bed right next to me, "I was going to see it in the morning, and if you're wearing my shirt it means I'm late. Sorry." He wrapped his arms around my waist and put his head in the crook of my neck. "Do you need my help again tonight? I'm craving you right now." He grinned.

"It would help since I'm all awake and excited now." I pulled the shirt away to expose the side of my neck and my shoulder.

He opened his mouth and bore his fangs, biting down, piercing my skin, and began drawing blood. I winced like always, despite this being the hundredth time it has happened. I was beginning to feel slightly light-headed so I said his name to let him know.

"Ren... jun..." I couldn't keep myself awake but right before I went under, he gently placed a kiss on my cheek and whispered to me good night.


	2. A Strange Group

I woke from my sleep to the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes and felt the bite mark that was left on my neck. It was healing well thanks to Renjun's knowledge of spices and herbs. He has remedies ready for anything that could happen to me, from healing the bites he leaves on me to any werewolf-inflicted wounds that he keeps in case of emergencies. He has a book for anything else unexpected that wouldn't normally happen under normal circumstances. Normal being whatever follows from living with a vampire.

He walked into the bedroom with a plate of eggs and sausage and a side of orange juice. "I mixed it with something that should help your bone marrow produce more blood." He placed the bed table over my legs and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You planning on feeding sometime soon?" I questioned while scooping some eggs into my mouth.

"I was making sure you didn't collapse from the lack of blood flow in your body." He paused, "But I wouldn't be against it."

"You have plenty of time before we have to go out, and if you're hungry, that's what I'm here for right?" I looked into his eyes waiting for his response.

"Just my personal blood bag, huh? Is that what you think of yourself?" He grazed his fingers over my neck. "I go through a lot of trouble for a blood bag, don't I?"

Blushing, I began to shovel the rest of my breakfast into my face, almost choking in my attempt. He rubbed my back to make sure I was fine while looking at me concerningly.

"Don't die on me. Where else am I supposed to get my blood?" He teased.

"Haha, I know. It's not like you can't find someone else that would be willing to be your personal blood bag." I said sarcastically.

"Do you know how mean and inconsiderate that sounded?" He said in a quite frank manner. "If I didn't know you any better I would've thought you were being aggressive."

I covered my mouth in response. I don't realize it all the time but I was aware that my words and the tone in which I say them usually misconveys its intention. "Sorry. How many times have you pointed this out and I still haven't fixed it." I grabbed the cup and slowly sipped the orange juice feeling disappointed in myself.

When I brought the cup down to the table, Renjun gently turned my head to face him. "I've pointed it out many times but I don't mind it because that's just how you are." He placed a kiss on the corner of my lips and softly caressed my cheek. He smiled before taking up the breakfast in bed setup he brought for me to make sure I had my strength. I could only pout in response to his affection. I could feel my face start to heat up and I dove under the covers to hide my excitement and joy. The blankets did little to muffle my squealing which only made Renjun laugh, seeing my struggled attempt to hide.

Once I felt calm enough, I came out from under the covers and walked out of the bedroom into the rest of the apartment. Looking at the furnishings, you wouldn't be able to tell a vampire lived here, especially with the curtains drawn all the time. The morning sunlight brightened the room all the way to the kitchen where Renjun was working on a potion of some sort. I walked up next to him to see what exactly he was making. "What are you working on right now?" I picked up one of the strange ingredients that lie in front of me.

As he took the item from my hand to use it in his concoction he said, "I'm trying to figure out a more permanent solution to the sun protection potion I make so the others don't have to keep nagging me about running out." He continued to work with immense focus, "If not permanent, something that will work longer and not have as many side effects as a result." He kept looking back and forth from the notes he made and the ingredients lying on the counter, lifting vials to take a closer look at each, trying to figure out if what he had could make it work.

Completely immersed in his work, he was grinding, mixing, and heating different ingredients and vials, experimenting with different combinations of similar items. The focus on his face made him look all the more handsome. When he works from his notes or on a new remedy he always puts on his glasses and they rest comfortably on his nose, sliding down occasionally when he moves too much to look around or retrieve something he might've forgotten. I leaned over the counter and rested my head in my hands, staring, mesmerized by his focus, tracing his features with my eyes.

He turned his head to look for an ingredient when he caught me staring. I smiled back wide, "You look cute in those glasses."

He smiled shyly before going back to his work. Working only for another second, he immediately gathered everything to put it up. "I can't concentrate when you compliment me and look at me adoringly." He said, his voice sounding a little flustered while walking over to the cabinet where he kept all the alchemical equipment, me following close behind.

"I know, but I can't help but stare sometimes." I cutely replied, almost walking into Renjun's back.

"Why do you have to be... so cute?" His voice wavered, putting the items back in their respective places. He turned around to see me smiling, radiating joy, and squished my cheeks. "If I wasn't under the effect of the potion you would've turned me into a pile of ash."

Through smushed cheeks, "So would the sun that's shining through the window right now." The sarcasm always finds a way through, but I caught myself this time. "But I'd feel really bad if I killed you by radiating. You just look really cute flustered."

He let go of my cheeks and picked me up from my waist. I was caught off guard by the suddenness of his action but immediately complied by wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. With myself wrapped around him, he placed his hands under me as a seat to hold me up and walked back to the bedroom. "I might just feed on you right now." He stopped at the edge of the bed and sat down with me in his lap. I couldn't help but become flustered by his actions. His eyes were glowing red and a soft expression, reveling in my adorable fluster, grew on his face. "I'm not the only one here that looks adorable flustered."

I pouted getting redder. "Stoooop, I'm not that cute," I whined, hiding my face into his chest.

"Fine, I won't argue with you about it, you aren't that cute." he paused just long enough for me to look up at him saddened, "You are beautiful, the sweetest woman I've ever met." He ran his fingers through my hair. It has such a calming effect on my body.

"Sweet in which sense?" I asked softly.

"Both." He pushed my hair away from my neck, making sure not to bite in the same spot he did last night. Before Renjun sank his teeth into my neck, he held his head just barely touching my skin, his mouth opened, breathing on my neck.

"Renjun that just tickles you know," I said giggling and bringing my shoulders to a shrug.

He then bit down and started to suck my blood, continuing to run his fingers through my hair. I easily fell asleep with a mixture of lightheadedness and comfort.

When I woke up for the second time that day I was lying comfortably on the bed still feeling tired. I looked around the room to find Renjun when I saw that an outfit was picked out for me. A plain white shirt with an oversized green flannel over it, denim shorts, a long black belt, and a red beret with a matching neck scarf. Beside it was a pair of Timberland boots and calf-high black socks. "That's a cute outfit."

"I know, I thought you would look really cute in it." He said coming out of the bathroom. "You should start to get ready. I'd like to get there before the other members. Dealing with them all at once will probably give me a headache."

I took off his shirt I was wearing as I got out of bed almost tripping in my attempt. Renjun got ready to catch me if I fell, "I'm glad you feel comfortable with being practically naked around me but please do things one at a time." He took back the shirt I borrowed from him and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

I walked into the bathroom while putting on the white shirt he had ready for my outfit. I grabbed my toothbrush from the counter and the tube of toothpaste with it to start brushing my teeth. At the same time gathering my facial moisturizers to do my short facial routine, one that Renjun had recommended for me. With my facial routine done and the toothbrush still in my mouth, I grabbed my lotion and applied it all over my body before walking back to the bedroom to put my shorts on, tucking the white shirt into them. I grabbed the neck scarf and tied it around my neck, realizing Renjun probably picked it out to cover the bite marks. The flannel was the next item, I buttoned the middle buttons tucking the front into the shorts before putting the belt on tightening it slightly letting the extra portion hang down my leg. I sat on the ground to put on the socks and grabbed a stick of glue I always use for long socks to keep them up. Standing up to go to the bathroom, I finish brushing my teeth and brushed my hair, being content with leaving it as is.

The whole time I was listening to "We Go Up" by NCT Dream, singing along passionately when Renjun walked in to check on the status of my readiness. He was amused to see me singing along to one of his songs and when he noticed that I wasn't aware of his presence in the room he walked up behind me and placed his hands on my waist. I jumped in response which caused him to chuckle. "You startle so easily, I should take you to a haunted house to have you cling to me the entire time."

"I wouldn't be against it if every time someone scared me you would just let them be." I turned around in his arms to face him, placing my hands on either side of his face.

"Your voice is beautiful, keep singing for me." He walked over to the stereo to change it to "Beautiful Time"

Our bodies swayed to the song as we formed a duet, forgetting we were just in our apartment bedroom. I rested my head in his collar, he ran his fingers through my hair, swaying until the song ended. And of course, the next song had to be "Go" which immediately got me jumping around the room.

Knowing I would jam to every single song that came on he stopped the music, "We can start to head out if you are finished here?"

"But I was really getting into Go." I pouted.

"I could see that but like I said I don't want to be late." He said bringing my boots and beret with him. "You can dance like an idiot in the car on our way over. We are going to the practice room so you can dance there too," he said handing me my boots.

Delighted with his response, my boots went on and I jumped to my feet. "Let's get going then."  
He placed the beret on my head and fixed it and my hair, "Perfect."

The drive over was filled with loud singing and intense dancing, with the occasional serious, soulful singing. The traffic wasn't busy so we arrived pretty quickly. Just like he wanted, we were the only ones in the practice room. "The only quiet I'll get in this building." Renjun took out the potions and set them on top of the mini-fridge they had in the practice room.

I went over to the stereo system to choose a song to dance to. My First and Last, my favorite song. I knew some of the choreography and danced terribly to the best my memory could provide.

"No, that's not the dance for this part." He came up behind me, "Here go back to the first position." His hands rested on my waist. "From here you'll turn here, and your feet should end up here." He pushed me with his body moving my feet to where they were supposed to land. His hands rose up to under my arms, "And your arms will go like that," he backed up and showed me how to do it and I copied him to the best of my ability. "Yeah, just like that."

I smiled repeating the move by myself. "What about the other parts?" I let him lead my body to the correct dance moves and watched as he did them himself. We were going through the entire song when Jeno came in to see the dance lesson and joined in.

"You dance pretty well." Jeno complimented.

"Thank you. I learn pretty fast when I want to." We shared a laugh and continued with the lesson. Jeno gave me some dance tips to help me improve and I thanked him for it. Singing filled the room as some of their softer songs came on when Jaemin walked in picking up one of the potions on the fridge.

"I was just running out. Can you make more next time?" His bag fell to the floor and he squatted next to it to store the potion, "A lot of things have been coming my way, and I've had to take care of them."

"By 'things' I'm sure you mean your fans." A look of disgust crossed his face.

"Ahhh Renjunnie, you know me so well." Jaemin closed his fists to his chin.

"Don't call me that, I'm older than you." The older member scolded, "I could just not make you the potions anymore."

"If you did that I would just take Chenle's batch." He said, "Even if I didn't take his you know you can't just stop making them for me."

Just as he was mentioned, Chenle walked in clenching his stomach, Jisung following behind.

"Hey Chenle, are you alright? You don't look too good." I said going to his side to help him up.

"I didn't get anything to drink all day today, I forgot to get the blood bags from the bank and I didn't want to attack anyone." He said rubbing the back of his neck. "I've actually never hunted a human before so," he nervously laughed after his statement.

"You vampires seem to have a lot of problems and restrictions," Jeno spoke up walking to the couch in the corner of the practice room. "We werewolves don't have to worry about our diet, we just eat human food and we're fine."

"You definitely have weaknesses though. Let me get a silver bullet to see if I can't remind you." Jaemin said walking over to Chenle. "Don't worry, I can easily get you a meal."

"Umm, thanks hyung but I'd prefer not. I'm sure I can make it to the blood bank and back." A strong pang of hunger hit him hard making him fall to the floor clenching his stomach. "Maybe not," he groaned.

I asked trying to find a solution, "Do you guys have blood bags here?"

"The other members aren't comfortable with seeing blood bags in the refrigerator," Renjun answered, "And rookies who don't know would only get freaked out, which is why he should keep enough and make sure he doesn't run out," he directed the last portion of his reply to Chenle, who looked down in disappointment and rubbed his arm.

"Chenle, I would've gone to the blood bank if you had told me." The other werewolf offered as help.

He looked over to his friend, "Jisung, I don't think that would've gone well."

"Why not? It's just getting a blood bag." Jisung justified that it was an easy task.

"If you, a werewolf, went to a blood bank run by vampires, that would've definitely started something." He stated the obvious fact, "You would probably forget what blood type I asked for anyway."

Jisung pouted when his friend made him out to be incompetent.

"I could go get it real quick. It's not a far drive is it?" I offered.

"I'm sure you just chose not to hear the part about the blood bank being run by vampires," Renjun interrupted, "They would try to take advantage of you as soon as you walk through the door."

"Oh right. Well ummm... Chenle can drink from me." I suggested. I received a shocked and slightly angered look from Renjun, "It's just Chenle, he won't kill me, I don't mind." I tried to rationalize it to him. "Unless you mind."

Jaemin feigned hunger, "Ah, I'm hungry too. Would you also let me get a drink?" He immediately received a glare from Renjun who bore his teeth and hissed.

"You can get one of your whores to drink from." Renjun shot at Jaemin.

"I'm not the one getting overly protective of a blood bag. I offered one to Chenle just a while ago," he laughed his response.

"Don't think of her as one of your playthings." he retorts, "You can't just use her for what you want. She isn't mindless like those who swoon over you."

"Oh, but she's just a human, I can take from her whatever I want. Don't blame your inability to seduce women on your affection towards her. You have every right to be jealous." Jaemin grinned knowing he was getting on his hyung's nerves, he could see the anger rising in his eyes.

Renjun's conversation with Jaemin was starting to make him extremely angered so he decided he should leave the practice room to level his head. He slammed the door behind him to let Jaemin know he was done.

"There, now that he's gone," he turned to look at Chenle and me. "Chenle can drink without fear of dying and Renjun won't be overcome with jealousy that his lovely blood bag is being shared. It's a win-win situation."

"You just enjoy stirring him up, don't you?" I huffed my response.

"If I'm going to find a solution for the problem shouldn't I at least enjoy myself too?" He crossed his arms giving me a smirk.

I scoffed as I shook my head at him. He shrugged with a smile. I looked over at Chenle who still wasn't sure about the whole situation.

"Are you sure I can drink from you?" His nerves present in his voice.

"I really don't mind. Why have you always wanted to?" I teased him to hopefully ease the tension.

"W-what!? No, that's not-" He stuttered, his face starting to look extremely flustered. "It's just that, won't it seem a little, sexual?" Chenle tried to calm himself down.

"It is if you make it. I don't really find it to be sexual" I said in response, "It just tickles if you speak or breathe near my neck," I untied the scarf around my neck. "But if you are just drinking it's not so bad."

"Chenle you've only had cold blood, maybe drinking some fresh warm blood will make you a real vampire." Jaemin jested.

Chenle looked down saddened by his hyung's comment which prompted Jisung to come up beside him to give him comfort. "Hyung, could you not be so mean to Chenle, I'm sure he's trying his best."

"It's like you guys are sleeping together, did I hit a nerve little pup?" His hand ruffled the tuft of hair on top of Jisung's head.

A low growl could be heard from the defensive werewolf.

"Don't forget who you are talking to Jisungie," he grabbed his chin and shook it left and right.

His head snapped away from his hyung's grasp, taking a more defensive stance against him.

Chenle's hand came up to Jisung's shoulder, "It's alright. Don't worry about it." he pulled Jisung back and faced Jaemin, "I'll show you I can be a real vampire." Determined, he walked over to me and tilted my head so he could easily take a bite. He hesitated for a moment.

"Chenle it's ok. You got this." I gently patted his head for reassurance.

Without letting his fear take over, he forced his fangs into my skin making me vocally and physically wince in pain. He took big gulps of my blood.

"Chenle, just a little more ok." I gave a warning. The volume of fluid he consumed didn't lessen. "Chenle... I think that's enough..." he didn't slow down. My body started to feel weak and I went limp in Chenle's arms only being able to mutter his name very quietly.

"Chenle!" Jaemin shouted, prompting the boy to let go of my body. Jaemin caught my body before it fell to the ground, "Good job Chenle, we won't hear the end of this." He cut the side of my neck to see if he could draw some blood.

"I'm sorry, her blood was just really sweet and warm that I just-" He panicked with the thought of both having killed someone and the wrath he would face from Renjun.

Blood slowly escaped the small incision Jaemin made in my neck, "She's fine for now," he sighed with relief, "But you could've killed her." He licked the cut to stop the bleeding when he tasted the sweetness Chenle was talking about. "Virgin blood? No wonder you couldn't stop drinking it." He looked up to Chenle, "Then that means Renjun hasn't-"

Renjun walked into the practice room level-headed until he saw me lying on the ground and Jaemin cradling my head.

"What did you do Jaemin?" His voice raised as some of his anger returned.

"I was making sure she still had blood flowing through her," he stood up in case he had to defend himself.

"And why would you have to do that?" Renjun bearing his fangs.

Chenle interrupted, "Sorry hyung I drank too much blood and I thought I killed her so Jaemin hyung went to check if she still had blood in her so he drew some blood and-" He put himself between Renjun and Jaemin to try to stop any sort of conflict between them.

Of course, Jaemin couldn't help but spark something, "Her blood is pretty sweet." he rubbed his bottom lip. "But that just means..." He trailed off smirking, looking in Renjun's direction to provoke him.

It worked because Chenle was pushed aside, and a punch flew right square into Jaemin's face.  
He huffed a laugh while rubbing the side of his cheek, "I forgot how sensitive you are about that."

Renjun grabbed Jaemin's collar, "Stop talking about her like that." He hissed as his eyes turned a bright red.

Jaemin looked down to Renjun's eyes and continued, "I can see why you wouldn't if you are just using her for her blood, virgin blood is the sweetest." A low glow was seen in his own eyes, "Or maybe you are too scared to do it."

Renjun couldn't hold himself back this time, he pushed Jaemin down to the ground and attempted to punch him. Jaemin caught his hands and pushed them away, rolling them over as they continued to fight each other. A few punches landed on both sides. The other members intervened, Jeno pulled Jaemin off the other vampire while Chenle and Jisung grabbed Renjun holding him down.

"Let go of me," Renjun struggled in their grip trying to go back after Jaemin.

"I see you can't even beat me either." He breathed heavily; at this point, his fangs were out and his eyes too, were glowing the same bright color as Renjun's.

"Stop provoking him." Jeno looked at Jaemin, pleading for him to stop. Jaemin looked into his eyes, being shocked for a moment that such an expression was present on his face. His eyes returned to their natural color and his body released some of its tension. He shook himself out of Jeno's grasp with a tsk following.

"Please hyung calm down, she's still alive, she just needs some rest right?" Jisung tried to rationalize.

Renjun stopped struggling against them, "Chenle."

Chenle straightened his posture, scared of what was going to follow, "Yes hyung."

"Can you get some type A positive blood from the bank and ask for a needle so we can get her to recover quickly." He knew the remedy he gave her his morning already wore off which caused her blood to replenish at a slower than average rate, a side effect of the remedy.

Chenle bolted up to his feet and rushed out the door. Renjun put his face in his hands and rubbed his face to relieve the stress in his body. Jisung sat quietly next to Renjun not sure what to do in the current situation. Jeno picked up the limp body and laid her down on the couch looking back over to Jaemin who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed still visibly upset.

Just when the conflict was starting to cool down Mark and Haechan walked in expecting the members to already be stretching but saw a different scene. "What happened here?" Mark questioned the room.

"Vampire conflict," Jeno said, rising from his spot next to the girl. "Chenle went to get some blood for her so he won't be back for a while."

"Umm alright then." Mark placed his and Haechan's bag down with the others.

"Why are you guys late?" The voice came from across the room from the vampire leaning on a wall making an attempt to forget about the situation.

"Did you guys go to eat some pancakes?" Jeno sniffed the air, "You smell like maple syrup."  
Mark was taken aback, blood rushing to his face, "Haechan got some advice from Ten that ummm, pretty much scarred my mind." He said avoiding looking back at Haechan.

"I thought you liked maple syrup?" He asked innocently.

"Not on you!" He yelled embarrassed at the situation.

"He had to get Johnny to calm him down after I-" he was cut off by Mark's hand covering his mouth.

"Don't tell everyone about it." He removed his hand from Haechan's mouth, "I still can't believe you, ugghhh." he couldn't finish his sentence without seeing the scene again.

Mark was just walking to his room to head over to the practice room when he opened the door. The scene behind the door practically traumatized him.

Haechan was lying shirtless on the bed that was scattered with plastic maple leaves, "Mark, lather me in maple syrup you Canadian son of a bitch." the open maple syrup pouring out onto his topless chest, "Wait, Mark come back!"

Like a scared puppy, he ran out practically screaming at the top of his lungs. Mark looked for Johnny who heard his screams and was trying to find the source of it. "Johnny I just. And then he was like. So I just ran, and oh my god." he motioned with his hands frantically trying to explain the situation.

"Woah woah woah, you gotta calm down a bit Mark, don't overreact." He put a hand on his shoulder.

Mark took a deep breath before continuing, "I walked into my room to get my stuff for practice but I saw Haechan lying on my bed without a shirt telling me to lather him in maple syrup and I screamed running to you." His voice was still frantically trying to get the story out.

As he got the last of it out Haechan came running after, still shirtless with the residue of maple syrup he tried to clean off. "Mark where are you going?"

He hid behind Johnny still scared at what Haechan might try to do. "Why did you do that?"

"I was ummm," he looked up to Johnny's concerned face, "Ten hyung told me to do it."

"And why would Ten have you do that?" Johnny questioned being able to tell that Haechan was trying to avoid answering.

"Why am I being talked about?" Ten walked into the conversation hearing his name being mentioned. He saw Haechan, shirtless, and Mark cowering behind Johnny. "Did my advice work for you?"

"Obviously not hyung, Mark is scared of me now. I just wanted to seduce him and..." he turned around as he let known his intention. "Hehe, umm yea so maybe I asked Ten for advice but he did give it to me."

"Haechan, don't ever listen to advice from Ten," Johnny seemed concerned with Haechan's attempt to seduce Mark, "He should be the last person you go to for advice like that."

"I mean it works on some people." Ten looked at Johnny.

"Yes some people enjoy it but it's not for everyone." He gave Ten "the look".

Mark slapped Johnny's arm, "Johnny are you not going to yell at him for like, even trying to seduce me. That's really weird."

"Oh yeah, and you shouldn't be trying to seduce Mark in the first place. You guys are children."

"If you really thought that you wouldn't have just flirted with Ten just now saying how you enjoy the kinky stuff he does." Haechan rebutted.

"Haechan!" said Johnny and Ten in unison.

"Sorry freaky sex stuff." Haechan corrected, waving his hands with his fake apology.

Mark, seeing that no progress was being made with the situation, left the scene to head over to the practice he was starting to be late for. Haechan noticed and followed him back to get his shirt and practice bag.

"Why did you give him that advice, did you know it wasn't going to work?" Johnny sighed as Mark walked away awkwardly.

"Haechan gets on my nerves but I didn't think he would actually do it." He ran his hand down Johnny's chest, "But I can definitely pour something on myself." He said, flirting.

"Sounds sexy but please don't actually do it." He grabbed Ten's hand, "If that something isn't blood I'd get sick licking it off you."

Mark shivered after remembering the whole scene. "Seriously Haechan, why would you do that." Haechan only responded with a shrug and then a flirtatious look.

Jaemin walked to the middle of the room, "If you guys had gotten here earlier we would've started by now." he started to stretch.

Renjun made sure to stay far away from Jaemin so he wouldn't feel the urge to murder him. Jeno and Jisung had the same idea and filled in the space between the two so another conflict doesn't arise. Haechan ran to the stereo system and played NCT 127's "Summer 127" to stretch to.

Chenle ran back into the practice room after the stretching was over, with bags of blood for himself and the unconscious girl lying on the couch. "Hyung I got the blood." He walked over to the couch and rolled up one of the sleeves to expose her arm.

Renjun came up behind and took the needle out of Chenle's possession. He connected the tube from the blood bag to the needle and made sure the blood ran through before he stuck the needle into her skin. He looked for a vein he could stick the needle into and gently pierced the layers to the blood vessel. While the group practiced, he sat next to her watching them, checking back on her every couple of seconds. She didn't wake up the entire time and everyone was getting ready to leave after the practice. The other members had agreed to mend the situation.

"Jaemin, Renjun, come here please," Mark announced to the room waving both the members over.

"What do you need from us hyung?" Renjun replied as he walked over to Mark.

"You guys should apologize, we don't need the tension from this fight to affect our future practices and performances."

"But I'm already over it," Jaemin said with a nonchalance seemingly normal for him.

"You might act like you have but it needs to be mutual." He looks over at Renjun who was looking back over to the couch that now had Chenle sitting beside it. "So you both have to say it to each other.

"Renjun can definitely start first." Jaemin offered.

Renjun turned to face Jaemin, "Were you not the one who provoked me? You say it first."

"I always say things to get on your nerves, I expected you to be over it by now."

Mark intervened by placing his hand on either member's chest to hold them back. "Guys seriously, how can we be a team if you can't apologize to each other." He looked at Jaemin motioning him to go first.

He huffed a sigh, "Renjun I'm sorry for always getting on your nerves and teasing you about your love life."

"How am I supposed to accept that. He was not sincere in the slightest." Renjun threw his hands out in disbelief.

"Renjun," Mark said sternly.

"Fine." He tried to compose himself, "I apologize for losing my head when you started to tease me about what I choose to do in my own free time and who I choose to spend that time with."

"You know hyung, I only make fun of you and her because I can tell you actually like her, I might be slightly jealous," He wrapped an arm around his hyungs shoulder "But I want to be the first to know when you do it."

Renjun immediately pushed Jaemin off before realizing the joke. "Haha, very funny Jaemin."

They laughed together which signaled to Mark that his job was done. "Alright then I'll leave you guys to whatever you need to do." he put a reassuring hand on both their shoulders before walking to the middle of the room to announce, "Be sure you guys get home safely, we had a good practice today. I'll see you guys later."

Everyone packed their things to leave but Renjun had errands he needed to run and didn't want to leave the girl unattended. "I could leave her here but," He scratched his head trying to find a better solution.

"I wouldn't mind watching over her but I promised Haily I'd go with her to a new outlet mall that opened a few days ago and she wanted to hang out." Jaemin slung his bag over his shoulder, "Sorry I can't be of more help. See you guys later."

"Hyung, I can watch over her. My mom is doing business in Shanghai right now so she'll be safe at my house until you can pick her up." Chenle offered to try to make up for the situation.

"And your mother won't be back anytime soon?" Renjun questioned.

"She shouldn't be back for another week." He exclaimed, "Please, I can watch over her."

He couldn't fight Chenle's plea, the boy was pitiful, and all Renjun could do was give him the chance to recompense. "Alright then." he responded, "The aunt that's looking over you won't question it will she?"

"My aunts usually let Jisung stay without me sneaking him in so she should be fine too." He seemed overjoyed that he was able to convince his hyung to allow him to take care of her.

If a werewolf was allowed into Chenle's house without question, it seemed reasonable that a human would be let in just the same. "I'll drive you guys to your house and I'll come to pick her up as soon as I can." He removed the needle that was feeding her blood and carried her body to the car, "Please keep an eye on her."

Chenle nodded furiously and followed Renjun to his car. Her body was buckled into the back seat with Chenle accompanying her. Jisung sat in the front with Renjun to help navigate.

After many stops and turns they finally reached the mansion Chenle called home. Even though Chenle was fully capable of carrying her into the house Renjun took it upon himself to do so. Chenle opened the double-wide door that led to the lobby area of the house where a butler stood to greet them.

"Is the guest room available?" Chenle asked the butler.

"I can certainly prepare one for use, sir." The butler responded bowing.

As he left to prepare the room, Chenle's aunt came around to greet them delighted, "Chenle. I'm glad you're home." She took Chenle's face between her hands and kissed both his cheeks. She notices the two unfamiliar faces, "Oh, and who are those two. One looks like she'd make a nice meal." She reached a hand out to caress the girl's face but her body was turned away by the defensive vampire holding her. "Oh is she yours?" She took notice of the protective motions he took.

"Auntie your nephew offered to look after her until I can do so myself, but if it's not safe for her here I'll have to go somewhere else." Renjun turned to leave when Chenle grabbed his arm to pull him back.

"Wait no it's ok," Chenle reassured Renjun, "Auntie please don't drink from her she's my friend."

"Well, why didn't you say so earlier Chenle, I wouldn't have tried to drink your friend." She glanced back at the other vampire, "Or his girl, by the way, how is it being with a human? Oh please follow me this way I'll take you guys to the room." She didn't allow Renjun to answer, not that he intended to.

The butler exited the room as they reached it. "I hope the room satisfies your needs Master Chenle." He bowed before leaving.

"Humans have so many uses, the obedient ones are slaves and the others are food." She looked over at Renjun, "Don't you agree?"

Renjun stood silently ignoring her remark which prompted Chenle to intervene. "Thank you, auntie, for greeting us but I think Renjun has to get going with his errand."

"Yes, I would love to stay longer to talk about my relationship and get to know you better auntie, but I have urgent errands to run so if you wouldn't mind I must get going." He walked into the room past everyone and laid the girl down gently. He hung the blood bag from a lamp near the bed and stuck the needle into her arm. Kneeling next to the girl, he pulled out an ointment container from his bag. He gently moved her hair exposing her neck and applied the ointment to the bite mark. Before walking away, he brushed the hair out of her face to kiss her forehead and whispered to her to get better. Walking out, he ruffled Chenle's hair, "I'm trusting you to take care of her, please don't make me regret it."

Chenle almost felt disheartened but quickly reminded himself of the responsibility he put on himself to keep her safe. "Don't worry hyung, I love her too. I wouldn't let her get hurt." Renjun was caught off guard by Chenle's statement and Chenle could tell. "Ah sorry hyung I meant it like she's my sister. She's always looking out for me, just like today, and I wanna repay her kindness by looking out for her this time. That and I put her in this situation so I should fix it." He sheepishly laughed as he scratched his neck. Renjun nodded slightly with an understanding and left with something lingering in the back of his mind.

"Hmm, I've seen quite a few vampire and human relationships, I, having been in one myself. They tend not to work out. I have no ill wishes towards them but it's unlikely to work out in the end." The aunt looked after Renjun and back to her nephew. "Ah, but who can stop young love, I completely understand. I'll leave you to take care of the child as you seem to insist on it." She looked into the room at the girl before walking off leaving Chenle and Jisung at the entrance of the room.

"Umm, I guess we look after her now. I'll go get some things to entertain us while we wait for her to get up." Chenle rushed off to his room to get playing cards, a Nintendo Switch, and some board games he had lying around.

Jisung walked into the room and sat on the floor next to the bed and looked closely at the girl's face. Chenle came barging into the room with his arms full seeing Jisung examining her face. Jisung turned around startled and proceeded to ask a question. "Why do you like her?"

Chenle was confused by the question. "What do you mean? She treats me like her little brother even though I'm a vampire so I guess that's it."

"Hmmm, so it's not because she's pretty?" Jisung raised an eyebrow.

"N-no it's not like that Jisung." he flustered a little dropping everything he was carrying, "I just said I think of her as my older sister."

"So you don't think she's pretty?" He looked back at the girl's face. "I mean she looks ok but I wouldn't completely deny that she looks pretty."

He sensed the teasing his friend was doing, "I think she's pretty but it's really not like that." He organized the board games to choose which one to play.

"But you seemed nervous to drink her blood." His teasing wasn't over just yet. "And when you did you kept going despite her warning you to stop."

"Look Jisung can we not talk about how I almost killed the one person I promised myself not to kill." Chenle was letting off a tense scent that Jisung immediately picked up on.

"Ah sorry," He chose the Connect Four game that was lying on the ground, "Let's play Connect Four. I know I'll beat you."

Chenle's competitive side showed as he came to accept the challenge, "Right, like you beat me at anything."


	3. To Love

Renjun got back into his car thinking about what Chenle said. "I love her too." Why did it seem so natural yet genuine at the same time? He couldn't get himself to say it plainly to her face or even talk about it to other people. Yet Chenle said it so easily about her. "I love you." His head hit the top of the steering wheel, a groan following after. It's not that the others don't know that he loves her, he compliments her every day and teases her. It's evident that he does, but he's never said so explicitly. "I'll be able to say it to her someday." He pulled out of the driveway into the street.

He drove down a street lined with many stores and shops. He parked in the parking garage at the end of the street and walked to the spice shop a couple of blocks down. The shopkeep greeted him as usual. "Renjun! What's it you're lookin' for today?"

"Here's a list of some of the things I need this time." He handed the handwritten note over the counter.

"How is the potion working out?" He asked to keep the conversation going.

"I believe I'm getting closer to making it work." He perused the store as the shopkeep went to retrieve the ingredients. "I also need to work on another thing which is why some of the items don't really pertain to sun protection."

"Yeah, I could see that." He was still in the back collecting the different spices and reagents. "From the looks of it, it's got something to do with food or poison along with pheromones?"

"We're having a picnic with the team, something about connecting with the fans." He picked up a charm off of one of the racks, "So I have a lot to work on for the vampires of the group. And I have to make sure our werewolf members don't feel any urge might one of the fans be in heat."

"That sounds interesting," He came back with a portion of the spices and came around from behind the counter to fetch the rest from the inside of the store. "How's the little lady? I'm guessing she's comin' along to the picnic."

"She's... fine." He refrained from saying any more. "You know I tell you quite a bit about myself."

"Making conversation keeps me from going insane. Not too many people come in here ya know." He walked to the counter with the rest of the items. "What happened, if you don't mind me askin'?"

"I don't like how you always know when something is wrong because you always seem to get it out of me." He placed the charm on the counter to buy it with the rest.

"I was a therapist, it's kinda stuck with." He scanned the price tag of the charm and put in the price of the collective ingredients. "It also doesn't help you that I was a good therapist."

"Yeah. All you need to know is that she's doing fine." He pulled out his wallet to pay for everything. "A member is taking care of her so she's fine."

"You trust 'em?" The shopkeeper asked genuinely concerned, "You don't seem the type to trust anyone with her." He grabbed the card from Renjun's hand to charge it.

"Initially no, but he proved he could do it, or rather he just insisted and kept asking." he took the card back and gathered the items to leave, "What's the concern for?"

"She sounds like a sweet girl, the way you talk about her to me." he placed his hands down on the counter, "When you talk about her you look so happy so I like her. If she makes my number one frequenting customer happy I'll be worried if something's happened to her."

He was shocked by his response, "Do I really talk about her like that?" he felt slightly embarrassed.

"Yes you do, and frequently might I add." He chuckled, "I'm sure you want to get back to her so have a nice day. Hope your potions work."

"Yeah, thanks." Renjun exited the shop thinking again about how obvious he is about his affection for her.

He walked down the street back to the parking garage when he passed the pastry shop she worked at. He smiled when he thought about how she'd react to bringing her favorite pastries back with him. He walked in and the baker behind the pastry display recognized him. "How's my favorite employee's boyfriend? Is she alright?"

"She's fine," he replied plainly walking to the display.

"You here to get her favorites?" The baker picked up the sweet potato tarts, and sweet bean-filled bread and put them in a paper bag. "As I would expect of her boyfriend."

Renjun took the bag of pastries thanking the man and noticed a girl behind the register looking in his direction. It was one of her childhood friends. He walked over to her.

"What happened to her?" the girl immediately interrogated him.

"Nothing." He passed his card to her which she took out of his hands.

"Renjun seriously what happened?" She charged the card but didn't intend to give it back.

"You are being pretty nosy." He held his hand out for his card to be returned to him.  
She refused to give the card back until she got an answer.

He sighed, "She'll tell you when she can, may I have my card back?" He started to become irritated.

"Bridget, won't you give the young man his card back?" The baker saw the scene and was disappointed.

Defeated she gave the card back, "Can you tell her to call me then?"

"Yeah, I can ask her to tell you what happened." He picked up the bag and walked out of the shop.

He made his way back to the car and made a quick run to the blood bank.

-

Chenle and Jisung were neck and neck in their competition to see who could win the most games. Accusations of cheating and excuses flew across the room as one or the other won each game. Occasionally they would praise each other on their wins or comfort the other in their loss but the atmosphere surrounding them was competitive. I woke up to the intense game of Super Smash they were playing. I held my head in my hand confused as to where I woke up for the third time that day.

"Where am I?" My voice, soft and low.

Jisung turned his head, being able to hear my question. He tapped Chenle's shoulder to get his attention.

"What, I'm beating you right now." He was completely immersed in the current match. "Don't try to distract me."

Jisung turned his friend to face the bed, "Look, she's up."

Chenle shot up dropping his controller. "You're up!" He immediately came to my side. "Are you ok? Do you feel ok? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?" he began his bombardment of questions showing his concern.

"I'm completely fine, it's just kinda weird to wake up for the third time today," I said ruffling his hair to calm him down. "Not knowing where doesn't help with that feeling."

He pulled me into a tight hug, "I thought I killed you." He looked up at my face.

"I'm fine but are you? What did Renjun do?" I became concerned with what he would've done in that situation.

He shook his head, "He wasn't as mad at me as he was at Jaemin."

I looked around the room, "Jaemin just can't help himself can he?" My gaze went back to Chenle, "So where am I?"

"You're in the guest room of my house." Chenle answered, "Jaemin, ummm, said you had virgin blood? Is that true?" The words came out hesitantly.

I was caught off guard. "W-why are you asking?" My face started to heat up a bit.

He saw my face fluster, "Ah, sorry, no it's just... If he brings it up it's because he tasted your blood and kinda used that against Renjun so... I didn't want you to seem surprised if he brings it up. Or if Renjun says something about it."

"Well, ummm, thank you Chenle." I calmed down, still confused at the sudden question. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Oh, it's three doors down on the right." He pointed to supplement his directions.

I stood up before realizing the needle in my arm and removed it before walking out of the door into the hallway counting the doors to the bathroom.

Chenle sunk into the floor, "I made that weird."

"I'm not an expert but I don't think you just casually bring up a girl's virginity like that," Jisung looked at him with furrowed brows, "Or EVER in fact unless you plan on doing something with that information."

"I just wanted to make sure." Chenle tried to defend himself.

"Make sure what?" Jisung looked at him confused, " Are you sure she's just an older sister to you?"

"JISUNG!" Chenle yelled in disbelief.

"Sorry," he flinched, "I'm just trying to figure out why you'd need that information."

"I was just curious." He tried to clarify, "But thinking back on it, it did seem inappropriate to ask."

"You think?" Jisung answered knowing he was right.

I walked into the room, "Do you guys know where Renjun went?"

Chenle jumped when he heard my voice at the doorway, "Ah, umm, he should be back in a bit."

"Chenle are you okay?" His jump had me concerned.

"No, I mean yes I'm fine." his hands quickly picked up a controller and handed them to me, "Do you wanna play?"

"Sure," I agreed eagerly, "What shall we play?" I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"We can continue playing Smash Bros." Chenle suggested.

"Alright then," I drug the cursor to one of the characters, "I guess I'll play Pikachu, but don't expect too much."

"What do you mean? You've beaten me before." Chenle said to boost my confidence.

I looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, "You mean you've let me win before?"

"You are actually pretty decent at the game." He gave a challenging smirk.

I suddenly became competitive with his remark, "Oh ok then, I'll show you I can beat you." I took a firm grip on the controller determined to win the match.

Jisung just looked at us scoffing while picking up his controller, "I'll beat the both of you."

The butler came to the door, "Master Chenle, the acquaintance of yours is here." He moved out of the way and motioned Renjun into the room.

Renjun came into the room and his eyes immediately landed right on me. My shoulders shrugged as I smiled widely at him. He sat on the bed next to me, "How are you feeling?" He grabbed my arm to check the color and feel the blood running through my system.

"I feel fine." I look him in his eyes, "I was actually more worried about Chenle, but you didn't do anything to him." I chuckled.

"Of course you worried about someone else before yourself, that's why you're here you know." He put my arm down after feeling the blood pump normally through my arm, then pushed my hair back to check the bite Chenle left.

Chenle turned back to the bed, "I should've been more careful." He looked at both of us, "I'm really sorry."

I got up from the bed and knelt to face Chenle, "You don't worry about it." I said as I squished his cheeks, "And even if it turned out worse, he still would've figured something out, Renjun's smart like that." I looked back to Renjun to see him watching me smiling at my comment. I ruffled Chenle's hair and kissed the top of his head before returning to my seat on the bed next to Renjun. As I sat down next to Renjun, he asked if I was ready to leave.

"Let me just play this one game and we can go home." I smiled at him and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. He looked at me keeping his straight face. "What?" I asked. "I promise it's gonna be one game."

The game started and my focus went to the game. Renjun's however was on my face. He watched as my facial expressions changed with the game. As I took the lead my eyes would widen, when I would mess up the slight frustration on my face, and when I would concentrate fully. His gaze fell from my face to my neck, looking at the bite marks on it and past them to the artery pumping blood through my body.

I threw my hands up as the match ended, "Wah, I'm really no good at this game." I look over to Renjun as he snapped his head away. I ignored it, having an idea of what he wanted. "Just one game as I promised." I returned the controller to Chenle and ruffled his hair.

"You ready?" Renjun asked.

"Yup, ready to go," I replied.

He looked to Chenle to thank him for looking after me.

"Of course, Hyung." He replied cheerily, "I'm just glad I could help. You know because it was my fault and all."

I quickly grabbed his face, "For the last time Chenle, it's ok. I'm fine." A reassuring smile presented on my face.

"Ok," he muttered.

Chenle walked us to the entrance to see us off.

We walked to the car and I saw a familiar bag laying in the passenger seat of the car.

"You went to my bakery?" I questioned as I picked up the bag and sat in its stead. "Oh and a cute little charm too."

He buckled in and began to drive off, "I went to get some supplies and thought you'd like something to eat after what happened today." he replied, "Oh and your friend Bridget was worried about you and wants to hear from you."

"Ah, I'll tell her not to worry. I'll see her tomorrow so I can explain what happened and hopefully, she won't worry too much." I opened the bag letting the smell of my favorite pastries waft out of the bag to my face. "Wah, my favorites. Thank you, Renjun." I smiled widely.

My joy spread to him as he smiled at my cute reaction. "Anything for you."

"Ah, that reminds me you're hungry right?" I blurted as I remembered.

Renjun looked shocked, "Why do you ask?" He kept his attention on the road.

"I know you were looking at my neck when I was playing with Chenle and Jisung." I closed the pastry bag and set it on my lap. "Did you get anything to drink?"

"I think you've had enough blood taken out of you today." He replied plainly, "I went to the blood bank so you don't have to worry about me."

"Ah, ok." I paused to think, "Then why were you looking at my neck?"

He took a moment before answering. "I was just," he paused, "making sure you were ok."  
We drove up into the parking garage under the apartment and parked in the first space available.

"Sorry for making you worry about me then." I stepped out of the car and brought my pastries with me, "But it's something else isn't it?" I asked playfully.

He was taken aback, "What do you mean?"

"You paused a bit like you were thinking about how to respond." I walked over to him and wrapped myself around his arm. "Like it was something you couldn't tell me."

He opened his mouth to respond but I interrupted giving him a break. "I'm joking with you, let's get inside so I can enjoy the pastries that you bought for me." I opened the back passenger door to carry the reagents he bought that day to bring them in.

Relief washed over him when an answer wasn't prodded out of him. He grabbed the small ice chest filled with blood bags, closed the passenger door, and locked his car.

Once we got up to our apartment, I placed the reagents on the counter of the kitchenette while Renjun moved the blood bags from the ice chest to a separate mini-fridge. I tried to help organize the spices and herbs but I wasn't sure what went where or what any of the items were.

"I'll put those where I need them," He intervened when I opened his reagent pantry to figure out where to place things. "I got this," he took the spice bag out of my hands and replaced it with the pastry bag. "And you enjoy this."

I happily took the bag and moved out of his way. I set the bag down on the counter watching Renjun sort and categorize the herbs and spices in the pantry. I took out a sweet potato tart and took a bite smiling widely as I chewed the piece I bit off. Renjun saw how delighted I looked eating and took a swig from a potion bottle. "Does it really taste that good?"

"It's my favorite, I think it tastes amazing," I said smiling before taking another bite.

He came up next to me, "Can I try a bite?"

I looked at him confused, "Won't you get sick?"

"I need to test out this potion to make sure it works." He took my hand with the pastry and brought it to his mouth, "So we'll see."

I flustered a bit when he used my hand not expecting him to take it. "Well, I'm sure it'll work." My gaze went over his face to make sure he was alright as he took the last bite from the pastry.

"You look worried for being so confident." He reached into the bag for the sweet bean-filled bread, "I feel fine for now." He broke off a piece of the bread and fed it to me.

"Well," I started with my mouth full. He hushed me to make sure I finished chewing before I spoke. "You didn't seem all that confident but it worked so that's good," I said after swallowing my food.

"Don't praise me just yet, I have to make sure the side effects aren't unmanageable." He took a bite of the sweet bread and handed me the rest. "It tastes sweet, just like you."

I took the bread and moved it to hide my face. Then in an attempt to hide my fluster, I imitated Anpanman while singing the song by the same name by BTS. He chuckled at my impression of the character and offered to cook me something.

"You haven't eaten all day have you?" He pulled a pan out from the cupboard.

I thought about it while taking another bite from the pastry in my hand. I shook my head, "Not since breakfast."

"Well then, why don't I make something for us to eat." He placed the pan on the range and opened the refrigerator to grab some ingredients.

"I would love that." I hopped next to him breaking off another piece of the bread to feed him, "What are you gonna make?"

He refused the piece. "It depends on what you want to eat." He looked at what was in the fridge before making suggestions. "We can make some omelet over fried rice or maybe you want some Kimchi fried rice?"

"Ooo Omuraisu!" I exclaimed, "I haven't had that in a while." I took the piece of bread and popped it into my mouth setting the rest on the paper bag that it came in.

"Omuraisu it is." Renjun checked for eggs for the omelet, ketchup, diced ham chunks as well as some green onion for the fried rice.

I made my way to the food pantry to grab some oil, soy sauce, and rice. I had to make a second trip for the rice cooker and set it up for use.

"You don't have to help me, you know. I'll get it ready for you." Renjun said as he noticed me gathering ingredients to help.

"I can cook too you know." I replied disheartened, "And besides this is something I can actually help you with, I like being able to spend time with you."

He smiled as he planted a kiss on my cheek, "Alright I'll allow you to help me."

I smiled back widely, turning around to wash the rice and put the rice in the rice cooker.

We waited for the rice to be ready by turning on some music and dancing around the living room. The rice cooker chimed to indicate that the rice was cooked. Renjun rolled up his sleeves and turned the stovetop on. He grabbed the ingredients out of the fridge and placed them on the counter before pouring some oil on the pan. I scooped the cooked rice into the hot pan as Renjun added the diced ham and started to chop the green onions. I stirred the rice to make sure the rice didn't burn and continued to incorporate the soy sauce and the chopped green onions into the rice as Renjun added them in. He took over the mixing of the rice as I added some ketchup to the mix. Seeing that the rice was almost done Renjun grabbed another pan for the omelet. He started another range and poured some oil into the pan before shuffling behind me to get the eggs out of the refrigerator. I turned the range for the rice off and let it sit while watching Renjun make the omelets in a separate pan. I grabbed 2 plates and portioned out the fried rice onto each plate setting them aside for the omelet to top them.

"And with that our dinner is ready." He announced as he placed the omelet over the fried rice.

"Ah ah ah, not quite Renjun." I interrupted, "Now we have to decorate the omelet." I handed him a plate. "I design yours and you mine." I grabbed the bottle of ketchup to decorate his omelet.

"You'll have to share the ketchup." He said coming up behind me.

I turned around to push him away, "Don't look, it's a surprise." I pouted.

"Alright." He backed off chuckling. He continued to watch as I carefully decorated his food, catching me turn around to make sure he wasn't trying to catch a glance. With his plate finished I placed the ketchup bottle down and moved his plate to the living room coffee table.

"There, you can use the ketchup now," I said, still trying to make sure he didn't see.

He looked at the blank omelet contemplating what he wanted to put on it. In the end, he decided to draw hearts as he didn't want to spend too much time on something that would get eaten.

I waved him over in excitement, "Come on, hurry hurry."

"I'm getting over to you," he replied with a tone asking me to calm down. He set his plate down in front of me and sat in the empty spot beside me.

"Ta-da," I announced as I set my plate down in front of him. "Enjoy your meal."

He looked down at the omelet to find written on it 'You're fangtastic!' with a pair of fangs drawn beside it, a heart dripping from one of the fangs. He looked up to meet my amused face. "Really, this is what you didn't want me to watch you write. A vampire pun."

I burst into laughter, "I'm sorry I thought it would be funny." I wipe a tear from my eye after seeing his unamused reaction.

He smiled when he saw how entertained I seemed with the whole situation. "Am I that much of a pain in your neck?" he chuckled.

"Your reaction was bloody amazing." I managed through a laugh.

Giggling he replied, "Well, I happen to think your vampire puns suck."

A giggle fit ensued as we continued to go back and forth with silly puns.

"We should eat the food before it gets cold." I finally said through tears from a laughing fit. "Thank you for the meal."

I took a spoonful of both the rice and omelet waiting for Renjun to do the same.

He watched me staring at him understanding my expression. Slowly, he grabbed the spoon and scooped a portion out. He seemed to enjoy the impatience in my eyes as I whined for him to hurry so I can eat. Laughing, he brought the spoonful of food to his mouth and we took a bite together.

"Wah, this is as good as I remember it tasting." My eyes lit up as I recounted the childhood when I would eat this. "How about you, how do you like it?"

"It's an interesting taste," he chewed the food trying to understand the flavor in his mouth. "Like a savory-sweet I guess. I'm not sure I haven't eaten proper food in a couple of centuries."

I look at him with a weird smirk on my face, "It's always so weird to be reminded that you're actually a millennia years old," I laugh as I scoop another bite.

"I'm not a millennia years old," he scoffed, grabbing the tv remote to turn the news channel on for tomorrow's weather, "But I don't know how much of this I should eat?"

"Why does it not taste good?" I look at him concerned, "You don't have to lie about it because I'm enjoying it."

He shook his head as he focused on the TV reports of drained bodies found near hiking trails in mountainous and forest areas, "We don't exactly digest food so I'm wondering how much the potion will allow it to get absorbed into my body as usable energy."

"So does the potion act like stomach acid or something? Breaking down the food since your body can't." I tried to attribute it to something I could process with my limited knowledge of magic and its workings.

He switched the channel from the unpleasant news to a random soap that happened to be on, "I guess you could say that." He took another bite, "The only real way to know is to finish the plate and see how I feel."

"I wish you didn't have to find out the hard way," I put my head in my hand, "Isn't there just a way to know?"

"While I appreciate the sentiment, magic isn't fun because you know what's gonna happen, it's fun because you get to find out what happens." He smiled, cleaning the rice from the corner of my mouth and putting it into his.

I looked at him in silence staring him down still concerned with the self-experiments he conducts. "You haven't died yet so it's fine for now." I point my spoon at him, "But you better not die."

He chuckled, "Alright, I promise I won't." He leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on my lips. A smile left on my lips as he pulled back taking another spoonful of food. "Let's finish eating, then you need to go to sleep."

"I think I've slept enough today." I scoop the last bite into my mouth watching Renjun look at me disapproving. "What? Wasn't that technically sleeping?"

"No, you passed out from blood loss 2 times today," he fixed a portion of food on his spoon again, "Once dangerously close to dying, so you're going to rest properly." His tone insisting I listen.

I got up from my seat bringing my plate with me, "Yes sir," I reply with obedience, laughing as I set my plate in the kitchen sink. I rinsed the plate and spoon putting them in the dishwasher, yawning as I closed its door.

Renjun came over to the kitchen with his mostly finished plate setting it aside on the counter, "Let me take you to bed then."

I rub my eyes, "I guess I do need some sleep. Ah, but your plate isn't finished."

He pushed me toward the bedroom, "Don't worry about the food, I'll finish it in a bit."

Once I was in the bedroom he leaned against the door frame with his back towards me, "Get changed so I can make sure you're going to sleep."

I smile when he never thinks twice to give me privacy, "What about you, aren't you going to sleep?" I say as I unbutton my flannel and pull my shirt over my head.

"I have more work to do," he crosses his arms as he continues to face away, "And I don't want to wake you in case I don't take this food down comfortably."

I quickly put on a baggy shirt and shorts, "I guess it makes sense, you probably work better at night." My arms wrap around him as I hug him from behind. "But you always seem to be up when I am."

His body turned around as he held my face in his hands, "I usually sleep when you're out because I don't want to miss a moment with you."

"And you didn't like my pun. I should've written something cheesy." I grabbed his hands pushing them into my face.

"Alright, off to bed with you," he attempted to turn me around only for me to keep going until I faced him again.

I lifted my arms with a pout on my face waiting for him to figure out my intention. His arms wrapped around my hips, lifting me into his chest. He carried me to my side of the bed gently putting me down. I pulled the covers over knowing that I shouldn't keep him from perfecting the potions for the group.

"Good night then," he leans over me to place a kiss on my forehead.

My eyelids felt heavy, "Make sure those potions work ok," drowsiness taking over my voice. My eyes fell shut as I felt his hand run over my cheek.


End file.
